The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the Heart Center of Cologne at the University Hospital Cologne under the direction of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thorsten Wahlers is one of the leading centers in Germany for the treatment of congenital and acquired heart defects. The Heart Center at the Department contains 40 beds for the patients, who receive standard medical care, as well as the intensive care unit with 24 beds for the patients, who need intensive care and artificial lung ventilation in close cooperation with the Department of Cardiology. There are also 24 beds for the patients, receiving the intermediate care. The intensive care unit with 2 beds for the patients with heart transplant is a part of the Department as well.

All together, the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the Heart Center of Cologne at the University Hospital Cologne under the direction of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thorsten Wahlers performs over 2,800 operations every year. 1,700 of them are performed with the use of the cardiopulmonary bypass. The Department includes 4 operating rooms for cardiothoracic surgeries and an additional room for the pacemaker implantation. The operating rooms are equipped with the state-of-the-art devices, including the so-called hybrid operating room – equipped with the multilayer X-ray optics for the complex cardiovascular operations. It is used together with the cardiologists to implant a heart valve with the use of a catheter. Moreover, the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery supervises its own research laboratory.

The range of medical services at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the Heart Center of Cologne at the University Hospital Cologne, headed by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thorsten Wahlers, includes such priority areas:

Surgery of acquired heart defects with the application of the cardiopulmonary bypass and without it (incl. Coronary surgery, surgery of acute myocardial infraction and complications, ventricular septal defect etc.)

Surgery of congenital heart defects with the application of the cardiopulmonary bypass and without it (incl. surgery of newborns, children, adolescents and adults)